Sunday, March 18, 2012

Hello Sunday Morning

I travelled to Sydney two weeks ago for Mardi Gras and it was amazing. Well let me restate that it was amazing, but the weather was terrible lol. It was hard being in the city if only for the fact that I knew I almost went to school there and I was jealous of the people who actually lived there. The hardest day for me was Sunday when we travelled to Bondi Beach which was where I wanted to live if I had actually gone to school there, and it was so beautiful and vibrant that I just wanted to stay there forever. But anyways, we arrived on Friday and took a walking tour of the city and got to see the Opera House and climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon, which isn't as cool as climbing the actual bridge but had some amazing views. During my free time that day, I explored the Chinese Friendship Gardens which were so beautiful I wish I'd had more time there. That night, we went on a booze cruise around Sydney Harbour and got to see the Opera House and the bridge all lit up and also the theme park that was in the Mary Kate and Ashley movie Our Lips Are Sealed. On Saturday, we went to the blue mountains which with the weather looked like a psychology experiment gone wrong. The fog was so thick that when you tried to look out and take in the views you felt as though you were on the edge of the world and you were about to step off into oblivion. One word to describe it: freakish. That night we went to a bar to watch the mardi gras parade. It was amazing, the people put so much work into costumes and routines. Its funny that the first time I ever celebrated Mardi Gras was in a different country than my own, I would love to go and see what Mardi Gras is all about in New Orleans. Apparently they are very different. Aussie is all about gay pride, whereas America is about flashing your boobs to get free beads lol. On Sunday, we visited the beaches. We took a ferry over to Manly and walked along the boulevard. The beach there was beautiful it rivaled Burleigh. All white sand and clear waters with smaller waves. Then we took the ferry back and travelled down to Bondi and did a cliff walk between two beaches. The views were spectacular and there were all these small nooks along the way where I totally could picture myself doing homework or just reading. It made me sad and full of longing, but then I thought if I had gone there, I would never have met Brynn or Cam or Chels or Kayla or my northeastern friends and my time in Aus would have been so much different. I'm glad I came to Bond, that I met the people I did and had this amazing experience. I hope that in the end I will be able to go home knowing who I am and what I want out of life. Which brings me to my next point:

You know those days where you wake up and just feel awful - not physically, but mentally as if you want nothing more than to take back the night before? Well that's how I felt today. Don't get me wrong, I didn't do anything stupid or get into any kind of trouble, but last night my friends called me out and it made me feel humiliated and angry at myself for allowing alcohol to cloud my judgement. That is why I have decided to join Hello Sunday Morning. This program was started by one boy who was sick of the drinking culture that rules our generation, and is basically a challenge to go twelve weeks being completely sober. This does not mean I plan on being a homebody or hanging on the outskirts, I plan on being exactly who I've always been with the extra challenge of being sober the entire time. The message speaks to me, and I feel like this is the perfect time to try it considering I have no money in my budget for alcohol lol. I feel like it will be difficult especially since Australia is a place where alcohol basically rules almost every night of your week, but I hope that with some support I'll be able to hold back and create change in my life and hopefully figure out who I am. I mean isn't that why everyone studies abroad? To find themselves? Well I hope that this exercise will be life changing and that I'll be able to do just that.